AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising

ServicesPlanning & StrategyThe Importance of the Media Buy

Subscribe to AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising

The Importance of the Media Buy

Television, TV watching, football, Super Bowl, Super Bowl commercial

It’s that time again! Super Bowl 50 will air on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 7th. This is one of the biggest sporting events in the country, and it is the most watched television show in U.S. television history, which says a lot considering there are literally hundreds of thousands of media outlets available today. Super Bowl 50 is expected to reach record-breaking levels in viewership. Not only will football fans tune in, but others will tune in for the halftime show and, of course, the commercials.

You may be wondering what it costs to purchase a 30-second commercial in the Super Bowl? On the national level, an advertiser could pay as much as $5,000,000 for one commercial. On a local level, an advertiser could pay anywhere from $9,000 to $10,000. Regardless of the cost, the Super Bowl game always sells out.

So how do you get enough bang for your buck amidst all of the competition? You create a plan and pick your media buy very carefully. The network which airs the Super Bowl typically schedules a high-rated prime show following the game to keep viewers tuned in. As an ad agency, we’ve helped clients take advantage of this by running multiple commercials throughout Super Bowl coverage, resulting in lower costs, increased frequency of your message and enhanced efficiency of your buy.

Amperage’s media buyers have the experience to analyze television ratings and commercial costs for our clients and make sure they get no less than maximum results for their advertising expenditures. Click to watch an example of how we helped a client spread their message during Super Bowl XLIX.

Written by:

Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.